


martha my dear

by Kit_Kat21



Series: Beatles Tribute [27]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22092205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kit_Kat21/pseuds/Kit_Kat21
Summary: Ned smiled, taking four-year-old Max, home for the day from preschool, up into his arms. Jon was at work and all of the other kids were in school and now was the perfect time to bring the dog over. She and Sansa needed to meet each other first.
Relationships: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark
Series: Beatles Tribute [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/905319
Comments: 44
Kudos: 117





	martha my dear

**Author's Note:**

> "Martha My Dear" was written by Paul McCartney for the Beatles' White Album and is an adorable song about Paul's equally adorable sheepdog, Martha.

…

“Oh, dad,” Sansa breathed as she saw the four-month old dog jump down from the back of the car.

Ned smiled, taking four-year-old Max, home for the day from preschool, up into his arms. Jon was at work and all of the other kids were in school and now was the perfect time to bring the dog over. She and Sansa needed to meet each other first.

“She’s beautiful,” Sansa still, hardly able to speak as her eyes stared to the tan-and-white Siberian Huskey.

Slowly, Sansa approached the dog, standing next to the trainer, her tail sweeping back and forth. Sansa sank to her knees in front of her. Max reached his arms out at the sight of the dog, wanting to pet the “pretty dog”, too, but Ned held him firmly. He had gotten this dog at the same training center he had gotten Lady all of those years ago and the emotional therapy dogs had to meet who they were intended for first and foremost so that their bond would be able to be formed quickly.

“Oh, you are so pretty, aren’t you?” Sansa cooed as she began petting the dog’s beautiful, thick coat. “It is so nice to meet you, pretty girl.”

The dog kept swishing her tail back and forth, obviously pleased with the compliment. She took a step closer to Sansa and nudged her in the chin with her wet nose. Sansa laughed as she felt tears build in her eyes.

“She’s about four months old now and we’ve made sure to get her fixed before her first heat,” the handler said and Sansa nodded with a smile, not able to take her eyes off the dog.

“Would we be able to name her?” Sansa asked, knowing that therapy dogs oftentimes came, already named; to make their training easier.

“Your dad told us what you and your family wanted to name her so she knows her name is Martha,” the handler answered her.

Sansa looked at Martha, the first tear slipping from her eye down her cheek. “It is so nice to meet you, Martha,” she said and Martha responded to that by licking Sansa’s chin.

At that, Sansa let out a mixture of a laugh and a choked cry as more tears began to fall and without another word, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Martha’s neck, hugging the dog and wiping her face into the dog’s soft fur. And just as Lady used to when Sansa was crying and hugging her, Martha sat there, still and patient, not moving until Sansa moved herself.

Sansa lifted her head and looked to the dog; still a puppy. She smiled and rubbed her fur on either side of her neck. “Good girl,” she whispered to her and Martha wagged her tail, giving Sansa another lick.

…

It had been four months since they had to put Lady down and a year since they had to do the same with Ghost. They had talked about getting another dog – another emotional therapy dog, specifically, for Sansa – but Sansa admitted that both she and Jon hesitated before making a final decision.

They loved dogs and were in complete agreement that the Snow family was a dog family.

And yet, despite all of the joy and love a dog brought with them, it was hard imagining having to – eventually – losing her as well. It was so much pain and heartache and Sansa wondered why they would willingly do that to themselves again. Losing Ghost and then Lady had been near-brutal on them all.

But in the end, the Snow family was a dog family and a dog family actually needed a dog.

Even with five kids, their house had felt too empty and Sansa hated waking up in the mornings without her feet _too_ warm because there was a dog flopped over them, and Jon kept tossing down bits of lunch meat to the floor when he fixed himself a sandwich before remembering that there wasn’t a dog to gobble it up.

When Sansa had finally made the call to her dad, asking if he could contact the same therapy dog center where he had gotten Lady for her, Ned revealed that he had already made the call a week after Lady died.

After the handler left, and Martha was officially home, Ned stayed for a couple of hours more to help with Max and to help Sansa get their newest family member get acquainted with the house. Jon was the only one who knew of Martha’s arrival that day; both parents wanting the children to be surprised.

Max sat on the family room floor as he preferred, playing with his ridiculous amount of cardboard building blocks and laughing as he would reach for one and Martha smartly took it in between her teeth – gently – and dropped it into Max’s open hand.

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Sansa asked in the kitchen as Ned sipped a cup of coffee she had brewed for him. She was making the vegetarian chili that Eleanor absolutely loved and it was cooking away in the crockpot on the counter. “We’re going to have plenty,” Sansa then added.

“Your mom and I have plans to go out to eat tonight, but thank you, sweetheart,” Ned said with a smile.

“No, dad,” Sansa shook her head. “Thank…” she swallowed the thickness in her throat. “Thank _you_.”

For her entire life, Ned had always done everything for her. _Everything_. And still, it overwhelmed her.

Sliding his coffee cup onto the counter, Ned smiled and pulled Sansa into a hug.

…

“WE GOT A DOG!” Brandon spotted Martha first and shouted it for all the world to hear.

Sansa was standing in the driveway, holding Max’s hand as he stood at her side – the boy liking to be there when his brothers and sisters got off the school bus and were home again – and Martha was inside, standing at the glass storm door, looking out.

Sansa laughed as Brandon ran right past her for the house. He raced up the steps and then yanking the door open, he dropped his bookbag on the floor and then fell to his knees in front of Martha; the dog, somehow, already knowing that he was part of the same family and she licked his face over and over again in greeting.

“We got a dog?” The twins were off the bus next, having heard their oldest brother’s announcement, and then, seeing Martha in the house, both George and Eleanor ran right past Sansa to meet the dog next.

“A dog!” Julia, the last to hop off, exclaimed and without looking at anything else, she raced after her siblings.

Max pulled his hand from Sansa’s and followed all of them up the driveway, back to the house.

“Well,” Sansa let out a laugh at none of her children greeting her; Martha being far more popular already.

As the bus pulled away from their house and down the street, Jon’s pickup truck arrived, pulling into the driveway. It took him a moment to gather all of his things from the day before stepping down from the truck and he smiled when he saw Sansa standing there, waiting for him. She smiled back. He then heard the barking of Martha and the commotion of the kids from inside the house and even though he knew the dog was arriving today, that didn’t stop from a grin splitting his face.

“She’s here,” he said to himself.

He began taking the path the kids took; up the driveway – and right past Sansa.

“Ah-hem,” she cleared her throat, turning around to look at him. She raised an eyebrow and a smile was breaking through as Jon stopped in his tracks.

“Shit. Sorry. Hi,” he hurried out, turning and coming back to her.

And Sansa began to laugh as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her hello.

…

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/27464164@N07/49318207862/in/dateposted/) Martha Snow, the family dog

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU! No angst in this one and I keep meaning to write a story for this universe of Sansa and Jon being a couple - rather than focusing on them being parents - and I hope to get to that for the next installment.


End file.
